Are moviegoers burning out on Hollywood’s gaming adaptations?

After a series of smash hits, Hollywood’s video game adaptations are starting to face more scrutiny from gamers. The pushback is a sign of potential burnout among moviegoers — but also shows that game adaptations are here to stay.

As gaming film and TV adaptations such as the “Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “The Last of Us” crescendoed in popularity last year, Hollywood studios jumped to scoop up other popular gaming properties, viewing gaming as potentially the next great source of IP after the success of comic book adaptations in recent years. In 2024, the downstream effects of this feeding frenzy are becoming visible in the form of releases such as last month’s “Borderlands” film, as well as the teaser trailer for “A Minecraft Movie” released by Warner Bros. last week.

There’s just one problem: Gamers do not appear to be happy about this latest run of adaptations. The “Borderlands” movie has become one of the year’s biggest flops, failing to make back the majority of its $120 million budget. And the online gaming community has thus far had a mixed reaction to the “Minecraft” movie teaser, with many gamers criticizing the trailer’s over-reliance on CGI and heavy-handed references to the original game.

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